Suu Kyi invokes Bapu against junta

Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi said had Mahatma Gandhi been alive, he would have been 'vocal' about his 'disapproval' of India's stand regarding her country.

In a reversal of its policy, by late 1990s New Delhi had warmed up to the military junta in Myanmar, a country with which it shares 1600km land boundary and distanced itself from Suu Kyi.

Renewing her bonds with India, the chairperson of the National League for Democracy met vice-president Hamid Ansari, Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar and also held discussions with external affairs minister Salman Khurshid on Thursday.

"I think Mahatma Gandhi would have been very vocal about his disapproval," the Noble Prize winner told Karan Thapar at CNN-IBN's Devil's Advocate.

"I think he (Gandhi) would have stood by us...he would have insisted that India stand by us because that was the kind of man he was," she said.

At the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial lecture on Wednesday, she had said she was saddened that India had drawn away from Myanmar in its 'most difficult days' and hoped New Delhi will stand by her country in achieving democracy.

However, the Burmese leaders said that one has to be pragmatic about it because, "I know that government sometimes take a path which is best for their country..."

Asked if she felt betrayed, she replied in the negative. "No...No, I never felt like that. I don't think we have the right to demand loyalty or support from anybody."